The development has triggered a debate in the oil ministry on whether it is possible to redefine the universally-recognised principle of arm’s length transaction in the narrow context of oil and gas contracts.

Pradhan said that after the 9th City Gas Distribution round government’s access to the CGD networks would increase to more than 300 districts, which will entail an investment of more than Rs 70,000 crore

The upstream regulator said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan would preside over the signing ceremony held in Delhi, adding the regulator would soon offer 14 exploration blocks under the second round of ongoing auctions

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet operated a demonstration flight of its biofuel-powered Bombardier Q400 aircraft from Dehradhun to Delhi today. The fuel for the flight was developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum

Prior to the new policy, field operators were not allowed to explore and exploit CBM, shale gas and other unconventional hydrocarbons from allotted licensed area. Similarly, contractors with CBM fields were not allowed to exploit any other hydrocarbons except CBM.

A plan by Indian Commodity Exchange Ltd (ICEX) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) to introduce futures contract in petrol and diesel after approval from the market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) may bode well for bulk and industrial consumers who will now get room to hedge their fuel risks, experts said.

ONGC, which had in January completed the acquisition of the government's 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore, has appointed its Director (Finance) Subhash Kumar on the company board, sources said.